Ventilating metal ironing table top



March 17, 1942. JOHN VENTILATING METAL IRONING TABLE" TOP 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed March 8, 1941 fin'enior: 1B5

. John.

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Patented Man 17, 1942 VENTILATING METAL IRONING TABLE TOP Edward T.John, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to The J. R. Clark Company,Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application March 8,1941, Serial No. 382,359

4 Claims.

My invention relates to ventilating metal ironing table tops and has forits object to produce an ironing table top fabricated entirely of metalwherein a large part of said top surface shall be open to permit freepassage of the steam generated by the hot iron upon the damp clothes topass through the ironing table top.

This application discloses an improvement over earlier filed applicationSerial Number 366,537, filed November 22, 1940.

Many efforts have been made to obtain a good metal ironing table top.These efforts have failed to be reasonably successful because of theconditions, first that the sheet of metal subjected to heating in alocal area under the fiatiron will expand rapidly with no means oftake-up for the expansion and resulting buckling; and, second, becausethe sheet metal of the ironing table top does not permit the passage ofsteam or moisture therethrough, and its quick loss of heat from theunderside has a tendency to condense the steam upon the sheet metalcausing accumulations of moisture which not only interfere with theironing operation but increase the direct outflow of steam about thewrist and arm of the ironer.

To correct the first of these defects it has been proposed to securetogether two sheets of metal in such a way as to produce a structureintended to be rigid enough to resist the expansion strains from heatingthe metal top to an extent that would prevent buckling. One of theseproposed constructions provides for the union of the two plates by meansof punching holes through both plates and interlocking the plates at thepunchings. This method is expensive in practice, does not effectivelyprevent the tendency toward buckling and necessarily does not providesuflicient open surface (in fact less than one percent of the totalarea) to permit any effective transmission of steam through the ironingtable top.

I have discovered that by applying to a supporting framework of suitablestrength, preferably of metal, a top sheet of expanded metal with theedges held to and concealed by the side members of said framework allthe difficulties encountered in attempts to provide a metal ironingtable top are successfully met, for this construction will have a metalironing table top wherein up to sixty percent and more of its area maybe open. Furthermore, the nature of the expanded metal permitssufficient yielding upon heating so that there is no tendency for themetal to buckle.

It is the principal object of my invention,

therefore, to provide an ironing table top wherein a sufiiciently strongand rigid supporting framework has thereon and integrally securedthereto a sheet of expanded metal to provide a surface which will notbuckle under heat and which is open for a large part of its area.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a framework oflongitudinal and transverse strips, preferably of metal, and aperipheral member with an inwardly-turned top flange, which member maybe U-shaped in cross section, all integrally united together with a topsheet of expanded metal having its edges extending beneath saidinwardly-turned top flange and in effect integrally secured thereto.

It is a further object of my invention to arrange the integratedframework in such manner that the sheet of expanded metal forming theironing surface of the ironing table top will have a rise or crowntoward the center.

It is a further object of my invention to provide out of the framemembers themselves means for attaching the leg structure to the ironingtable top, which leg structure will preferably be .of metal.

' top viewed from above.

Fig. 2 is a similar plan view of an ironing table top viewed from below.

Fig. 3 is an edge elevation view'of the ironing table top.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of an ironing table topwith some parts broken away.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the ironing table top taken online 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5a is a sectional view taken in the position of line 5a5a of Fig. 1showing a modification in the use of T-iron'longitudinal supports.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the ironing table top taken on line 6-6 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged underside plan view of a portion of the front endof the ironing table top.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showing the manner of unitingcertain of the frame members.

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 2.

The frame of my ironing table top comprises a central longitudinal fra.we member ID, and, as shown, two other longitudinal frame members II andI2 spaced equidistant from the central member ID and shortened at theirends I3 and 14 to accommodate to the converging edges of the front ofthe ironing table top. The members II], II and I2 are preferablymetallic angle bars having their longer sides set into the flanges of Ubars I5, I6 and I1, also preferably of metal, having their short flangesId, I9 and turned outwardly to receive and support a sheet of expandedmetal 2| as hereinafter described. However, other types than metallicframe members, such as wooden members, may be employed.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the transverse U bar I5 is split at its endto the points 22 and 23, forming diverging portions 24, 25 and 26, 21 atits respective ends. The portions 24, 25 and 26, 2'! of bar I5 are alsobent upwardly, a indicated at 28 and 29 on Fig. 5. The centraltransverse bar I6 is provided with downturned ears 30 and 3| to furnishpoints for securing the supporting leg structure to the frame, theseears being punched out of the cross plate of the U, as clearly shown inFig. 2. Likewise the broader U bar I! is formed with ears 32 and 33,punched out of the body of the connecting web of the U bar, whichfurnishes additional points for Securing the leg structure to the frame.Obviously other shapes than U-bars and different proportions of anglebars may be employed, and as shown in Fig. 5a, I also may use T-barsIII, II and I2 in place of angle bars.

Completely surrounding the frame thus formed is a continuous edge membercomprising a rear end portion 34, curved rear end portions 35 and 36,side portions 31 and 38, tapering front portions 39 and 40 and a curvedfront end portion 4|. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, this surrounding memberis a curved-back U-bar with its flanges turned in, but obviously it canbe any member having a top, inturned flange.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 6 the transverse frame pieces I6 and I1 and thearms 25 and 21 of frame piece I5 are secured to the bottom side flanges42 and 43. The other split legs 24 and 26 of the transverse member I5are connected to the sloping flanges 44 and 45 of U bar portions 39 and40. Similarly the rear ends of longitudinal frame members I8, II and I2are connected to rear flange members I9 and 20 of members II and I2, asshown in Fig. 7, being connected to top flanges 41 and 48 of sloping Ubar portions 39 and 40, and the flange I8 of central longitudinal framemember ID is connected at its end to the curved top flange 49 of thefront curved portion 4| of the frame member.

The sheet of expanded metal 2| is secured by welding or in any desiredway to the underside of top flange member 5| which extends all the wayaround the top of the ironing table top. The expanded metal willpreferably be of the form shown in Figs. 4 and '7, being fabricated tolie flat in any desired plane with the edges sealed as well as beingsecured to the surrounding top flange 5|,

As clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the sheet of expanded metal 2| is notonly held at its edges under the surrounding flange 5| but rests uponthe flanges I8, I9 and 20 of the angle bars I0, II and I2. These barsare so mounted in the transverse frame members that the side flangemembers I9 and 20 are higher than the surrounding flange member 5| ateach side of the frame, and the central flange member I8 is higher thanthe two flange members I9 and 20, thus giving the top sheet 2| a crowneffect transversely across the ironing table top. Referring to Fig. 3,which is an edge elevation view of the ironing table top, it will beapparent that this crowned effect of the sheet of expanded metal ispresent also longitudinally of the frame.

As shown in Fig. 8, the U bar members such as I5, I6 and I1 have theirupstanding flanges 53 and 54 formed with slots 55 and 56 which areadapted to receive the long flanges of the angle bars II], II and I2.The depth of the slots 55 and 56 will of course determine the relativeposition of the short top flanges I8, I9 and 29. A short transverse bar51 is secured to the longitudinal members I I], II and I2 only and isprovided with ears 58 and 59 for additional securing of the legstructure.

The expanded metal sheet 2| is secured to the surrounding flange member5| by means of spot welding across strands of said expanded metal, asshown at 60 on Fig. 7. Also, the sheet of expanded metal 2| may be spotwelded to the short flanges I8, I9 and 20 of the longitudinal supportingmembers as indicated at 6| on Figs. 1 and 4. This spot welding to boththe top flange of the surrounding frame member and to the top flanges ofthe longitudinal supporting frame members binds the entire structurevery firmly together and gives it characteristics of strength anddurability.

The advantages of my invention have been quite fully pointed out in thepreceding sections. Not only does it provide a frame-supported metalironing table top but one which is exceptionally light and very strongfor its weight. However, the greatest advantage resides in the fact thatsuch a large percentage of the table top is open so that the act ofironing, which always generates steam beneath the hot iron, will havethe effect of driving such steam through the pad over the metal top andthrough the openings in said metal top away from the hand of theoperator. This produces at the same time more rapid ironing, smootherand cleaner ironing and far greater conveniences and comfort of theperson who operates the iron. Added to these advantages are that theexpanded-metal surface ironing table top, including its frame andsupporting structure in any of its forms is relatively economical tofabricate, will have a very long life and is ornamental and attractivein appearance.

I claim:

1. An ironing table top, comprising a framework formed of longitudinaland transverse members and a peripheral frame member united with thelongitudinal and transverse members, and a surface member consisting ofa single sheet of flat expanded metal resting upon the longitudinalframe members and having edges thereof secured to the peripheral member.

2. An ironing table top, comprising a metallic framework including aplurality of longitudinal supporting members and a peripheral framemember extending entirely around the outer edges of the table top, and asingle sheet of flat expanded metal resting upon the longitudinalmembers and having its edges integrally united to said peripheralmember, said supporting members being progressively higher in eachdirection to the center of the ironing table top, whereby theexpandedmetal sheet has a crown lift toward its center in alldirections.

3. An ironing table top, comprising a metallic framework formed oflongitudinal and transverse flanged members having their flangesinterlocked, the longitudinal members extending upwardly above saidtransverse members, a peripheral frame member around the edges of theframework secured to all said longitudinal and transverse members, anda. single flat expanded metal sheet resting upon the longitudinal framemembers and secured at all its edges to the surrounding peripheralmember.

4. An ironing table top, comprising a framework formed of longitudinaland transverse members and a peripheral frame member united with thelongitudinal and transverse members, and a surface member consisting ofa single sheet of fiat expanded metal resting upon the longitudinalframe member and having edgesthereof secured to the peripheral member,said expanded metal comprising elongated diamond-shaped openings withthe long dimension of the diamonds extending transversely of the tabletop.

EDWARD T. JOHN.

